Tough love
by doc boy
Summary: Harry and Hermione have fallen in love with each other. But a night before they go out on a date, Harry is badly injured and the young couple grow closer as he heals in the hospital...


Tough love

I do not own Harry Potter

It was their sixth year and Harry and Hermione have been dating for some time. Since he broke up with Cho last year, he realized newfound feelings for his best friend. At first, he tried to ignore them thinking it's a temporary thing. But as the months passed by, he realized they were real and that the girl he loved was by his side all along. In hindsight, he realized she gave him a lot of sings along the way, he just didn't pick up on them. After he came to terms with his emotions, he decided to tell her how he felt. In the weeks, leading up to his confession Harry grew nervous around her and would blush constantly. Being the sharp girl that she is, it didn't take Hermione long to notice.

 _"Why is he always staring at me like that and blushing all of a sudden? He's never done that before. Has he developed romantic feelings for me?"_ her heart fluttered with elation at the possibility that her love for him might finally be returned. But then, her logical side silenced her emotional one.

 _"It can't be that… he's never seen me that way before. So why would he now?"_ she thought and sighed.

All too soon, their fifth year was over and they were on their way back to London. Harry felt like he was running out of time. When they were in the station, saying their goodbyes, he felt like it was time to act. He couldn't postpone it any longer. When he approached her to say goodbye for the summer, he swallowed nervously.

"Hermione?" he asked nervously.

"Yes Harry?"

"I…"

"I…" he stuttered trying to fight the urge to avoid contact. Finally, he looked into her eyes and sighed.

"I love you." He said honestly with a slight shrug. Hermione was a little shocked at first. She couldn't believe it. The words she heard him say to her only in her dreams were being said to her now, in real life. The girl of his dreams smiled for joy.

"I love you too Harry. Always have…" she said and wrapped her arms around his neck as they went in for a passionate kiss, catching Ron by surprise. When they parted, Harry peered into her brown eyes.

"We'll keep in touch okay?" he said and she smiled. She kissed him briefly on the lips once more.

"You bet Harry." She said.

"Have a good summer!" she called at him from near her parent's car and with that she was gone. During the summer, the couple stayed in touch as much as they could. They were delighted when their sixth year came around so they could see each other again. They spent most of their free time together. Soon winter has come only to be replaced by spring. Around Easter, there was an arranged trip to Hogsmid. Harry offered to take her out on a date, one she gladly accepted. The evening before the outing, Harry went to visit Hagrid and ended up staying after curfew. As frustrated as she was, Hermione was not all that concerned because he had his invisibility cloak with him. He stayed there until late at night. By the time he left his house, Hermione had gone to sleep, irritated by his irresponsible behavior.

While walking back towards the castle, Harry ran into an ambush. Malfoy emerged from behind a bush and aimed his wand at him. He cast a spell that threw the cloak off his opponent.

"Malfoy." Snarled Harry.

"Evening. Potter. It's a little late to be out is it not?"

"I could ask you the same." Replied Harry, then he realized something.

"How did you know I was passing by?" he asked.

"I saw you heading for that oaf's house so I waited for you. Your feet showed under the cloak. It's getting a little small for you Potter. Might want to consider getting a bigger one." Teased the blond.

"Yeah. Whatever." Said Harry, picked up his cloak, and turned to leave. Then he saw Malfoy and his two minions pointing their wands at him.

"I don't think so Potter." He snarled.

"It's payback time after you put our fathers behind bars. You won't be going to Hogsmid tomorrow with your filthy mudblood of a girlfriend…"

"Why you…" muttered Harry and tried to draw his wand but was too slow.

"Now!" yelled Malfoy and he and his friends used cutting curses that struck Harry in three different places. His chest, his stomach, and his arms. Harry croaked and fell on the grass, lying in his own blood. Malfoy smirked victoriously.

"Have a nice time at the hospital Potter," he said and the two ran off. Harry tried to reach for his wand to try to heal himself but was too weak and in too much pain. He tried to call for help, but whenever he opened his mouth, blood what come out of it instead of words. He tried to clumsily crawl towards his wand and the castle but didn't get very far and collapsed. He flipped on his back and tried to breathe normally. Soon his eyelids were getting heavy and after a few minutes, everything turned black. He was out.

The next morning, Hermione went down to eat breakfast, waiting to scold Harry for being out so late. When she reached the table, she found her friends engaged in a nervous chat.

"What's going on?"

"Harry is missing." Said Padma.

"What?!" alarmed Hermione.

"He went missing last night. He went outside and hasn't returned since."

"Oh God…" muttered Hermione and darted for the door, followed by Ron. They ran towards the grounds and headed for Hagrid's place. When they went past the gate, a peculiar smell greeted them. The smell of blood. Hermione paled.

 _"Oh Harry please be okay…"_ she prayed and ran faster. When she made the turn, she was horrified to see Harry laying on the grass with several gashes on his body and a puddle of blood around him.

"HARRY!" she screamed and ran towards him. She kneeled beside him to inspect the damage. His face was awfully pale and he was barely moving. She checked to see if he was still breathing. To her immense relief, he was still alive. She inspected his wounds. As ugly as they were, she was glad to see the bleeding stopped. She cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Harry?" she asked fearfully.

"Harry? Can you hear me?"

He opened his mouth to speak.

"M… M…"

"What is it Harry?"

"Malfoy…" he croaked tiredly.

"Malfoy? That bloody bastard. How could he do something like this to you?"

Harry didn't respond. He only tried to continue breathing.

"Hermione he's dying. We need to get him some help." Urged Ron.

"Right!" called out Hermione, summoned a magical stretcher, and placed him on it and they rushed him to the hospital wing. When they got there, Madam Pomfrey was shocked by his injuries and that he was still alive. She rushed to the cabinet, gave him a large bottle of blood replenishing potion, and poured it down his throat. Soon afterwards, the potion was taking affect and the color started to return to his face. Hermione sighed with relief as she held her boyfriend's hand as the school nurse tended to his wounds. Soon his wounds were closed and cleaned up and he lay there silently, unconscious as his body began to recover.

Hermione held his hand all the way through with tears in her eyes. For the longest time she feared the boy she loved would die. He couldn't die. She loved him; he was her significant other. Besides, he was the boy who lived. If he survived the killing curse, he could survive everything, or so she thought.

The healing process drew on until the evening. While Hermione was sitting by his bedside, Ron, Padma and a few others brought her chocolate frogs from the kitchen. She thanked them for their kindness with sentiment. At around eight o'clock, Harry stirred and Hermione perked up. She tightened her grasp around his hand and caressed his cheek as he opened his eyes slowly.

"Hey Harry." She said gently as he looked at her tiredly.

"How you feeling baby?" she asked sweetly. He closed his eyes tiredly.

"I've been worse. What happened?"

"You tell me. Ron and I found you fatally wounded this morning on the grass."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment trying to remember. When he did, Hermione could see a small frown on his features as he opened his eyes again to speak.

"Last night, on the way back from Hagrid's, I ran into Malfoy and his goons. They used cutting curses on me for getting their fathers arrested."

Hermione paled.

"My Lord, that's awful… but how could they see you through the cloak?"

"They saw my feet. Thing's getting too small for me." Admitted Harry.

Hermione looked at him sadly and caressed his cheek.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"All day basically."

"Who found me?"

She smiled at him.

"I did." She said and he returned her smile.

"Thank you, Hermione."

"What are you thanking me for? You're my best friend and I love you. I couldn't leave you there like that." She said and he smiled again.

"I love you too, Hermione. I'm just sorry ii wasn't able to take you out to Hogsmid today."

Hermione shook her head.

"Don't worry about it Harry. No date would better than having my boyfriend back." She said sweetly and kissed his hand and he gave her a small smile.

"Besides…" she said and turned to her side.

"We have some chocolate frogs if you still want us to have some kind of a date…" she said and presented the pile in her hand. They both smiled as they ate their chocolate frogs together, as Harry slowly drifted to sleep. When he was, Hermione smiled sweetly at him, covered him up, and kissed him on the lips as he slept.

"Sleep well sweetie. I'll see you in the morning…" she said and caressed his hair slightly and headed for Gryffindor tower as Harry slept and his body continued to recover…

The end….

So there it is. Hope you guys liked it. Reviews are most welcome.

Also for those who are interested, I created a forum devoted to the Harry and Hermione parring. If anyone wants to join, you can find it in this link

topic/200616/160789651/1/Harry-and-Hermione-s-love

Peace out…


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